CUNY interactive redistricting map: UPDATED MARCH 2012

New districts lines

This week the New York State redistricting task force (LATFOR) published new proposed districts for State Senate and Assembly. Also, the US District Court published new proposed districts for Congress in New York State. CUNY's Center for Urban Research has updated its interactive redistricting map with these new lines. Click here to view the updated maps.

We have analyzed the differences between earlier proposed lines and the current set -- see below. In most places the differences are small or there were no changes. At this point only the latest proposed lines, as well as existing district boundaries, are displayed at our site.

Summary of Proposed District Changes: January to March

The latest (and perhaps final) proposed State Senate and Assembly maps from LATFOR (current as of March 12, 2012) are different than the proposed lines from January, but many of the proposed districts have not changed at all. The latest Congressional district maps from the US District Court area also very similar to the court's earlier proposal.

Senate

Comparing the proposed March lines with January's lines, 29 of 63 districts are exactly the same.
This includes: almost all of Long Island (1 thru 8); most of Staten Island; most of Hudson Valley; all of North Country; and most of the Southern Tier.

Of the 34 proposed districts that changed between January and March, the Center for Urban Research analyzed the size differences using our geographic information system (GIS) software. Out of 34 changed districts, 20 are within 1/2 square mile of their January size (10 districts are less than 1/2 square mile bigger; 10 are less than 1/2 square mile smaller).

Therefore, 49 out of 63 districts (more than 75%) are almost or exactly the same as they looked when they were proposed in January.

Assembly

Comparing the proposed March lines with January's lines, 70 of 150 districts are exactly the same.
This includes: much of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx; the Syracuse area; and parts of western New York.

Of the 80 proposed districts that changed between January and March, the Center for Urban Research analyzed the size differences using our GIS software. Of these districts, 49 are within 1/5 square mile of their January size (24 are less than 0.2 square mile bigger; 25 are less than 0.2 square mile smaller).

Therefore, 119 out of 150 districts (almost 80%) are almost or exactly the same as they looked when they were proposed in January.

Biggest increase (Jan. to March): AD 102 had a net gain of 395 square miles.Biggest loss: AD 101 had a net loss of 542 square miles.
Also, District 1 as proposed in January (covering Long Island's north and south forks) is now split across AD 1 and 2. Therefore AD 1 had a net loss of 396 square miles from January to March, and AD 2 had a net gain of 385 square miles.

Here are the updated Assembly districts for use in mapping software or online maps:

How to use CUNY's online maps

Once you select one of the district options from the pull-down menu at the top of the page (see screenshot at right), you can:

Compare proposed lines with existing districts throughout the state;

Zoom in to see in detail how the lines are drawn (you can also change the basemap to display aerial imagery so you can see the lines in relation to individual buildings);

Enter a street address anywhere in the state to zoom to that location;

Once you type a street address or click on the map, a popup window is displayed that identifies that location's existing district as well as the proposed district that would encompass it;

When you click the "More Data" tab at the lower right, you can display a block-by-block map of predominant race/ethnicity patterns for a visual indication of how the proposed lines might impact voting power of minority populations; and

The "More Data" tab also provides access to a map of local voting patterns for an indication of recent voting tendencies within the districts.

The "side-by-side" view of the maps show existing districts on the left, proposed lines on the right. If you're using the "Overlay" view, you can move the transparency slider to the right to display proposed districts, and to the left to fade back to current districts. See how by watching this video.

If you want to share the map you've made, click the "Link" in the upper right of the map page to get a direct link to the area of the map you're viewing. It will look like this: